These are truly different times. As I sat and watched the new President’s State of the Nation Address yesterday, I felt that inner peace in seeing that this man, the man I did not vote for, had some serious plans to bring real change to the country. And I say that objectively with a firm belief that if we can only give him a chance to prove his passion to serve, then he will. Dim the lights first on all his critics because we all want this change right? We can be critical of him along the way but first allow the light on him to shine.
What made me suddenly reflect on the 19 years of Imagic after witnessing one of the most unique speeches ever done by a leader? It just made me want to introspect on how I can be able to help make this change come true. When he said that he will give the Muslims and the Lumads (indigenous peoples) their own channel, I told myself this was something I never even thought about but yes, it is a beautiful gesture of wanting to bring genuine recognition to the voice of the voiceless. If this happens, we will be seeing and experiencing a side of the world that has been kept hidden from us, like a beautiful pearl that slowly reveals from a sealed oyster shell and opens after being shut off from the sea. I am excited.
There is so much of the world to see but sadly what the Filipinos only see each day are either the news that have been chosen for us by the media (its agenda setting function) and the endless entertainment either from song and dance, drama, magazine, talk programs and now, the travel shows that have allowed us to see more beauty of our country. But where are the stories that show development taking place? Where are the narratives of people who go through marginalized conditions and are now emerging to have a better life? Sadly, the real conditions happening to a big part of our country are unknown to our countrymen.
We have seen them in our work and this has been the tremendous blessing for 19 years. I do not say that what we do needs to have the center stage on television. Maybe it will come soon and I honestly hope that it would through a public broadcast system which allows programs that do not have any value to the advertiser to be shown. Advertisers will not want to buy space in shows that do not have any commercial value, or in short, that people will not watch. But how will people know that something is worth watching if they do not see this? Many, many developing nations have public broadcasting stations but not ours. Isn’t it ironic that the very programs we need to see are those that are not given to us?
Our work has allowed us front seats in seeing so much change happening already even before this new government. We see local governments and NGOs who have been providing structures for persons with disability, education on air to provide fisherfolk an alternative to extracting from the sea, a pathway to teach Muslim women, trapped in war, how to read and write. We have witnessed the rebirth of peace in Maguindanao amongst not just Muslims and Christians but also between Muslims and Muslims, Christians and Christians… personal wars among kin that we never even knew existed. Just last year, I was elated to find out that an indigenous people were given back a piece of their paradise, by the government, religious and NGOs after this famous white sand beach was taken away from them by greedy capitalists. And the list goes on and on. Change is intensifying but it has already began a long time ago but never really given the spotlight.
I am thankful for our new President and Vice-President who are champions of the poor and the marginalized. And even more thankful that they are putting it on top of their list for the whole world to see and for the media to finally put their focus on it, too. I am looking forward for development, peace and transformation to be felt by those in the margins, those that are already content to live and die poor. Now is their time to feel true change. It is their time to shine.
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